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Friday, June 26, 2015

Ex-NTUC president and MP Phey Yew Kok charged after 35 years on the run: All about the case

June 24 2015

SINGAPORE - Former NTUC president and Member of Parliament Phey Yew Kok finally returned to Singapore, after 35 years on the run.

Phey, 81, had jumped bail on Dec 31, 1979, to escape charges for
misuse of union funds. Having turned himself in at the Singapore Embassy
in Bangkok on Monday (June 22), he was then escorted back home
by Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau officers the following night.

Trace how the case unfolded through stories from The Straits Times archives:

Phey quits 3 top postsThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 4, 1979

Trade Union leader and MP for Boon Teck, Mr Phey Yew Kok, has
resigned from three top union posts because of investigations over the
past six months into his activities.
He has also indicated his intention to quit as chairman of the
National Trades Union Congress. NTUC president, Mr C. V. Devan Nair,
yesterday told a press conference that Mr Phey, 45, had tendered his
resignation as general secretary of the Singapore Industrial Labour
Organisation, the Pioneer Industries Employees' Union and the Singapore
Air Transport Workers' Union.Click here for full articlePhey faces six chargesThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 11, 1979

Trade union leader Phey Yew Kok stood stiffly and stared into the
distance as six charges against him were read to him in a magistrate's
court yesterday.
The 45-year-old chairman of the National Trades Union Congress faces
four charges of criminal breach of trust of a total of $82,520 and two
charges under the Trade Unions Act. He pleaded not guilty to all the
charges.Click here for full articleSupermarts in Phey caseThis article was first published in The New Nation on Dec 11, 1979

These are the two supermarkets mentioned in a court case involving trade unionist Phey Yew Kok.
Phey was charged yesterday with using $17,745 of union funds to buy
shares of the Forward Supermarket Pte Ltd in September last year without
the approval of the Minister. The name of the company was changed to
Savewell Supermarket Pte Ltd last December.Click here for full articleMissing Phey gets the sack: Warrant of arrest issued against him

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 8, 1980

NTUC president Mr C. V. Devan Nair yesterday announced the NTUC's
intention to sack Phey Yew Kok from all posts he holds in the trade
union movement following his failure to turn up in court in the morning
when his case involving over $100,000 in union funds was to be
mentioned.
In a statement, made a few hours after being told of Phey's failure
to appear in court and the issue of a warrant of arrest against Phey, Mr
Nair said it would appear that Phey had jumped bail.Click here for full articleAppeal for info on PheyThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 9, 1980

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau has appealed for information on the whereabouts of former union leader and MP for Boon Teck, Phey Yew Kok.
Phey, 45, who faces six charges involving over $100,000 in union
funds, jumped bail and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Monday
after he failed to appear in court when his case was to be mentioned.Click here for full articlePhey now formally stripped of union postsThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 9, 1980
The NTUC and three of its affiliate unions yesterday stripped Phey Yew Kok of all his union posts.
He was formally sacked during emergency sessions of the central
committee of the NTUC and executive councils of the Singapore Industrial
Labour Organisation, Pioneer Industries Employees' Union and the
Singapore Air Transport workers' Union.Click here for full articlePhey Yew Kok 'is still on wanted list'This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 18, 1984

Phey Yew Kok, the former trade union leader, is still a wanted man.
Home Affairs Minister Chua Sian Chin told the House yesterday that "the
warrant of arrest against Phey is still very much in force."
"Phey Yew Kok remains on the wanted list of all Interpol affiliated
countries, and the alert for his arrest on sight is still on."Click here for full articlePhey told us he couldn't bolt - he was under 24-hour watch, say bailors in show-cause hearingThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Feb 27, 1980

Former trade union leader Phey Yew Kok had assured his two bailors
that he could not escape facing the six charges against him even if he
wanted to because he was under 24-hour police surveillance, a magistrate
heard yesterday.

Both bailors, Mr Phang Tai Mun and Mr Kam Weng Nam, said this when
they were asked to show cause why their bail money of $50,000 each
should not be forfeited.Click here for full articleThe rise and fall of Phey Yew Kok: The best and worst timeThis article was first published in The Straits Times on Feb 2, 1980

He climbed from the humble job of an office clerk to that of a leader
of Singapore's three "millionaire" unions - Silo, PIEU and Satu. And
almost overnight, he plummeted from his pinnacle as the Republic's
second most powerful trade unionist to the depths of a fugitive. This
special feature traces the union career of Phey Yew Kok and reveals a
multi-faceted man.

When Phey Yew Kok reached the peak of his trade union career in 1970
on becoming the president of the National Trades Union Congress, he also
experienced bad moments in his union life.Click here for full articleCPIB looked for Phey in BangkokThis article was first published in The Straits Times on March 17, 1989

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau officers had gone to Bangkok
in an attempt to locate and bring back fugitive Phey Yew Kok, even
though Singapore did not have an extradition treaty with Thailand,
Parliament heard yesterday.

Home Affairs and Law Minister S. Jayakumar also disclosed that Thai
authorities had even gone so far as to raid places that Phey might have
stayed at. He said this to emphasise to Non-Constituency MP Lee Siew
Choh that the Government did everything necessary to search for and
apprehend Phey.

Click here for full article[Then in 1981, J.B.J. won Anson in a by-election. Was that due in part to the doubts voters had about the incorruptibility/invulnerability of the PAP?]